Pardon My Intrusion HIATUS
by iKannSpel
Summary: A complicated story equals a very bad review. Neji-a practicing photographer/Gaara-a social recluse who hasnt left his house in mothns. Put them together, throw in a kidnapping, and you've got a GaaNeji, baby! :D slight SasuNaru as well
1. prelude

Neji watched as the trees whizzed past as he rode in the back of the limousine. He stretched out his long legs in an attempt to gain some comfort, but to no avail. The only feeling that welded up inside of him was uneasiness, not that you could tell by reading his expression, which he was a master at hiding. His uncle was seated across from him, swirling a light drink in his hands as he, too, distractedly peered out the window to view the sights.

"After your year at the institute you shall return to the mansion." Mr. Hyuuga stated with authority, as if daring Neji to object.

Neji merely nodded, the only note of sadness noticeable was how his eyes lowered slightly, drifting off to memories of his father. He noticed how his uncle didn't say 'home', he said 'mansion', because that's all it was. Nothing but a building made of stone. It held no place in his heart. If it burnt to the ground, he'd only feel sorrow for not starting the fire himself.

Neji looked down at the photograph resting on his left leg. It was the picture Hinata had taken of their summer home, now Neji's home for a year while practicing photography at the institute of art. He guessed Hinata must've taken him as an idiot, as if to say 'in case you get lost while site seeing, just show this picture to a policeman to lead you back to safety'. Neji smirked slightly, thinking of his cousin. Growing up he was so envious of her, but he had grown to love her, the only part of his 'mansion' he'd miss.

The car skid to a halt and the trunk popped open just as quickly, jolting Neji out of his pleasant reverie. Without a word, the Hyuuga Co. Preisdent gave Neji a flick of the wrist, to show him off. There were no need for words…there never were. Neji thanked his uncle for the ride and the year at the house before closing the door, grabbing his suitcases, and walking towards the steps of his new home. It was magnificent, the picture just didn't do it justice. Walking in, there was a spiral staircase, a chandelier, and marble floors.

"Nothig less from a summer home for the Hyuugas, I presume." Neji mumbled to himself. How was he expected to live here? A 18 year old male living in a huge home with 4, no, 5 bedrooms! The uneasiness began to settle in once more, but Neji pushed it aside as he closed the door and dragged his bags into the nearest room.

Neji plopped onto his bed. The sheets were dark green with a white trim, it immediately enticed him. He was exhausted from the mind numbing trip, but being a bit of a perfectionist, he had to unpack first before relaxing. Just as he began to relax there was a vibrating feeling coming from his right jeans pocket. He sighed and retrieved his grey cell phone, the screen reading 'Hinata'. Aa small smile appeared over Neji's lips, as he opened his phone and exhaled a deep "Hello?"

"N-Neji…hi, how are you? I-Is everything alright?" Hinata's small voice trembled from Neji's hastiness. Normally he lets it ring 3 or 4 times.

"I'm fine, Hinata. And everything is alright. Though, the house is much bigger than the photo portrays." Hinata giggled from the other end and muttered a small apology, explaining her father having a thing for eccentrics. Neji arose from the bed, while still holding a conversation with Hinata and began to close the blinds over the large window in his room.

"Are y-you excited about starting at the i-institute, Neji?" Hinata stuttered, a problem she had struggled with since childhood. Neji pulled the string on the blinds to close them, slowly though, so he could take in the new neighborhood as he did so.

"Yes. It's a great opportunity to learn about photography. I honestly couldn't be any mo-" Neji stopped mid-sentence, as his eyes widened slightly. As he was looking over the neighborhood, he spotted someone staring at him from a house across the street. Just as fast as Neji had spotted the peeper, he had vanished…closing his blinds abruptly and turning off the lights to the house.

"N-Neji"

"Oh, sorry Hinata. Someone was staring at me from across the street." Neji then closed the remainder of the blinds and sat back on his bed. "It was rather odd, actually."

"Oh are you in the guest room? First one on the r-right? If so, that window is directly in front of _his_ window." Hinata pronounced his as if she were speaking of a monster.

"His? Who, Hinata?" a beeping noise was heard from Neji's cellphone. "Aah. Hinata, my batteries running out, Ill talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight." And with that Neji hung up his phone and slowly eased next to his blinded window. He used his finger to peek outside and see the strange man's home, but all of the lights had been cut off.

"Well now shes made me curious." Neji whispered, as he let his finger slide down as he sighed and walked into the hallway.

Gaara pressed his body against the wall of his small, dark bedroom. "He's seen me." He choked out, as he hugged his knees and buried his head. "He's seen me."

**Hi everyone! It's been a while, huh? My computer has been messed up for quite some time, now, so I'll try and update my previews stories. **

**Now for THIS story, I feel really really excited about. It'll be different from my other comedies, I'm taking a more serious note on this one that hopefully everyone will like. Sorry if Gaara seems OOC, but I wanted to portray him with social anxiety disorder, a very real and crippling thing to live with. This is just a prelude, so if you'd like me to continue it PLEASE review and I'll be happy to as soon as I can:D**

**Thanks, and have a great summer!**

**-Lillie**


	2. Pizza Day

Gaara sat on his cold wooden floor, shrunken as small as his body could manage

Gaara sat on his cold wooden floor, shrunken as small as his body could manage. Someone had seen him. That's exactly what he gets. Where does he get off staring at people? _Normal_ people wouldn't have to stare at people from their homes. _Normal_ people would be able to leave their home, to talk to people who attracted their interest. _Normal _people would have a social life, friends, and a relationship.

No, that was too painful to think about.

After minutes of mentally berating himself for his stupidity, Gaara rose from his position cautiously. Knowing better, but not being able to contain his curiosity, he peeked through his blinds once more, but seeing that all of the lights next door were off.

_It's not summer yet, what's someone doing in that house? It couldn't be a robber, could it?_

Gaara subconsciously shook his head. Robbers? Please. I mean, the house was flawlessly beautiful; even for a summer home it put Gaara's meek 2 bedroom house to shame, but thieves weren't that stupid to steal from Hyuugas. They'd probably call in the FBI if a plate went missing.

Gaara's mouth twitched into a small smile, the first smile he'd had in weeks. Just imagining a swarm of investigators scouring a house over a plate was enough to tickle anyone's funny-bone. But right as Gaara was relishing in his thoughts, he heard a car pull up in his driveway. It seemed like someone had just thrown a bucket of ice cold water on him.

_Who's in that car?_

_What do they want?_

_Why did they want me?_

Without even realizing his actions, Gaara grabbed his phone, sat on the floor and dialed 9-1-1. But he didn't press 'on'. He figured he'd wait until the thieves tried to enter his home so the police wouldn't think he was mad…like the last time.

The car door was slammed closed.

Gaara tightened his grip on the phone.

One step…Two steps…Three steps…

"Shit…" Gaara whispered through grit teeth, as he turned the phone on to signal for help, knuckled turning white from his grip.

Suddenly, there were 4 big knocks on his screendoor, followed by a very loud "Pizza delivery!"

Gaara opened his tightly closed eyes.

_Oh, right…I had ordered pizza._

He cursed under his breath at his embarrassing behavior. What's happened to him? He's suspicious of every little thing; even a creak on the stares sends millions of scenarios into his mind in a second.He wanted his sanity back…or what was left of it from before.

He rose from the floor for the second time today and shuffled to his door, which had 3, no 4 locks on it. He had forgotten, he'd bought a new lock over the internet last week.

He glared through the peephole to make sure the mysterious person actually _did_ have a pizza in his hand, which he did. Actually, the boy wasn't all that mysterious. He'd been sending pizza to him for months now. Gaara still didn't know his name. He hadn't the desire or the courage to ask him that.

After unlatching every lock, Gaara then unlocked his screen door and stared directly at the pizza, not at the boy. Making eye contact was uncomfortable and useless. Even though he never looked _directly_ at him, he could still see he had blonde hair and 6 scars on his face. That was the farthest Gaara's glances got him on identifying the boy.

Anyway, he knew what the boy wanted, the money, and he wanted the pizza. Easy exchange, right? Wrong. Because _every time_ Gaara ordered pizza (which was about twice a week) the boy always seemed to want to strike a conversation.

"Hey, man! 8.50 like always." the boy smiled as he stuck out a hand for Gaara to take his lunch, and another to receive his needed pay. Gaara placed the money neatly into the boy's hand, trying to do so without making any contact with his flesh. After that he took his pizza, but accidentally rubbed his hand against the boy's. Gaara hated his hands. They were cold, always. No matter how hot he was, his hands were always cold, it was like some odd curse. Plus, they reminded him of _his_ hands.

Without a word, he backed into his house and was about to shut his door when the boy's foot caught it before it shut. Out of instinct, Gaara looked up at the boy, his pale mint green eyes engulfed in the boy's royal blue ones.

"Hey, sorry but eeh…there's a party tonight. You're in college right? I mean you look about my age."

Taking this all in, Gaara nodded slightly. He wasn't technically _in_ college, but he did take online classes. He might be a 20 year old anti-social misfit, but he wasn't about to be a 20 year old uneducated anti-social misfit.

"Great! My buds and I were inviting everyone to this bloc party downtown, it's gonna be killer! I mean, I know I don't _know you_-know you, but I kinda _do_ know you. Ya know?" Gaara blinked about 4 times before replying with a quiet "No."

The blonde scratched his head and chuckled. "Oh well, I'm Naruto." He extended his hand to Gaara, the first act of friendliness he'd been offered since he moved here. But with friendliness came friendship, and with friendship came expectations, and with expectations came the possibility of being let down. He wasn't going down that road again. Never again.

Without a single word, Gaara positioned Naruto's foot out of the way as he closed and locked his screendoor. He was about to slam his other door when Naruto began knocking on the other.

"Wait, wait! Oh cmon at least tell me your name! I told you mine, huh?" the boy tried to smile, though his eyes showed he was hurt.

Gaara opened his mouth, as if he had the intention of saying something, but shut it quickly and slammed his door.

Naruto stood at the screendoor for a few moments, thinking. He didn't know if he should consider the man a jerk or just feel sorry for him. He heard a door slam from across the street and swirled around, as he saw a guy with long brown hair, wearing a white shirt and black pants starting to walk down the street.

"Hm…he looks nice." Naruto smiled, as he began running over to Neji.

**Now, Naruto! What have I told you about talking to strangers!**

**Tisk tisk --**

**Well, I know this may sound like a GaaNaru oh how I love GaaNarus **

**But my friend wanted a GaaNeji, and that's how it'll stay!**

**If you want me to continue, please review, and sorry again if Gaara seems a bit OOC. I haven't been on fan fiction in a while and was surprised when I didn't see the chapters show up..maybe its my computer or a glitch? Aah well Im just weird lol**

**Review please, thanks :) **


	3. LGFUAD

Neji asked himself over and over how he was talked into this. He was currently walking alongside Naruto and his companions: A dark haired elitist, Sasuke, a blonde flirt, Ino, and a pink haired ditz, Sakura. It's not that he regretted meeting the blonde and his companions. He hated the fact that he wouldn't know anyone here, so meeting people his age was an added plus. It was just so spontaneous, and Neji wasn't one for spontaneity. Though, he admitted, the blonde was very persuasive.

_Flashback_

"_Hey, guy, wanna go to a party?!" Naruto exclaimed, out of breath from his exhausting jog of 20 feet. Neji stared at him, at a loss for words for a few seconds. He was just about to go rent a movie, and he turns his back for 30 seconds and a blonde is on his lawn, inviting him to a party?_

"_I…excuse me?" he inquired, politely. His uncle always taught him, 'when in doubt, stall'. Even if you understood the question full well, it gives you time to think of an adequate answer._

"_Well, ya see, my buds and I are goin' to a bloc party tonight, and wanted to invite s'more people to join. You look about our age, you wanna come? I don't think I've never seen you 'round here before, you just moved here or somethin'? I'm Naruto Uzumaki, by the way. How goes it?" the strange boy extended his hand for a greeting as he closed his eyes and gave a grin the likes of which Neji had never seen. He didn't know which question to answer first._

"_Neji Hyuuga." He answered, shaking his hand cautiously. "And yes…I just moved into my uncle's summer home last ni-"_

"_Get outta town! This is his SUMMER home?! Pardon my French but you guys must be fuckin' LOADED!" the blonde howled, turning the head of a woman pushing a stroller across the sidewalk._

"_Heh, yes, well…he is."_

"_No shit." The blonde sighed, leaning back and examining the home. "So…you wanna come? It'll be fun. Free music, free food, free beer, oh and did I mention…FREE?!" the blonde wiggled his eyebrows in a persuasive manner. Neji couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's persona. _

"_Alright…might as well loosen up while I can, since I start school in 2 months."_

"_So do I! At the college right? Man we're gonna have so much fun! I'll pick ya up at 8, Neji! See ya then!" with that, Naruto waved and ran back onto Gaara's driveway, doing all but jumping into his car and skidding off._

_End of flashback_

Neji stared at Naruto's friends. Sasuke, quiet and reserved, was wearing a formal navy blue jacket with a white shirt, black pants and black chuck taylor's. Naruto was dressed _much_ more comfortably. He was sporting an orange t-shirt with a black swirl in the center and black long sleeves, cargo shorts and army green flip flops. Sakura was wearing a wine red crop top; with black capries and black low top chuck taylor's. Ino, was wearing a light purple tie top that left very _little_ to the imagination. She was also wearing a black mini skirt with black heels.

"Oh yea! Time to party! Let's hope billboard brow can hang!" Ino teased, thumbing towards a now seething Sakura.

"I'm not the one that can't keep down her liquor, Ino PIG!"

"Both of you stop it." The now, annoyed Sasuke demanded hardly above a whisper. Without any hesitation, both girls clasped their hands together and sighed. Neji could've sworn their eyes had turned to hearts.

Neji could almost hear music off into the distance. "Almost there!" Naruto cheered, as his pace quickened towards the sound.

* * *

Gaara sat at his computer, finishing up an essay for his writing class. It was an odd feeling, writing. It kept him busy, hell it kept him sane. But at the same time he had such problems putting his thoughts onto paper…or, typing them up. His thoughts were always scrambled, never organized. In his mind everything sounded perfect, but apply it to something visual and it was such a mess.

Plus, Gaara had other things on his mind. His sister would be visiting tonight. She visited about three times a year, he assumed just to make sure he wouldn't hang himself. He liked having his sister over, it was a pleasant change, though he dreaded her constant questions.

"Wanna go to a movie, Gaara?"

"How about we go to the mall, Gaara?"

"Gaara just _when_ exactly will you bring a nice girl home?"

It never seemed to cease with her. He knew she cared, but the constant questions and pressure was just something he didn't need. He guessed that since his brother, Kankuro had gotten married and moved out she had to be a mother hen to her other sibling. The black sheep of the family.

He sighed and turned off his monitor, the bright lights were starting to give him a throbbing headache. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his black leather desk chair.

_It's a Friday night. And I'm here, typing up some essay that's not due till next month. _

He had tried to leave, honest he had. Many, many times, in fact. He'd put on a shirt, his pants, a jacket and some shoes. He'd look at himself in the mirror, prepare to step out into the big bad world but right when he did, he'd regret it…always. Sure, he could leave to get groceries and whatnot. But other than that, no way, out of the question. It's not like he had companions waiting for him out there to congratulate him on overcoming his anxieties. No one cared. The world would keep turning, and eventually leave him behind, as it was already doing. It may sound bleak, but that's what life is.

Gaara's eyes flicked open when he heard a car pull up. He sprang out of his chair and peered out of his bedroom window to see a taxi cab, and a woman step out carrying 2 bags and her purse. Gaara's heart rate dropped back to normal. It was just her.

"Temari…"

Gaara threw on a robe from his bed post and hurried downstairs. He wasn't indecent, not in the least. He was wearing black jeans and a white t-shirt, but he figured it was somewhat cold outside and the last thing he wanted Temari to do was lecture him about getting sick.

Gaara dashed down the stairs, then noticed he must've look excited to see his sister. He straightened up his posture and opened the door in a nonchalant manner. For the few people who knew Gaara, they saw him as very cold and robotic. Not that they knew the madness going on in his mind, but his face could hide it _very_ well. He built up the invisible wall that kept him from showing his true feelings, as his sister struggled to walk through the front door. He then, grabbed one of her bags and scooted it off into the corner just in time for Temari to bear hug him.

"Gaara!" she gasped, doing all but breaking his ribs in half. "I've missed you so much, Gaara! How are you? God, you're too skinny, what have you been eating, _air?!_" And with that, Temari instinctively rubbed his stomach to feel his ribs protrude. Gaara gave a small smirk, the only form of a smile he could do in front of people, and replied with a coy, "We can't all be blessed with an _extra_, Temari." and in turn, rubbed her protruding stomach. "How far along are you again? You look about to burst."

"Oh not by much juuuust….eight months."

"EIGHT MONTHS?!" Gaara bellowed the most emotion he'd shown in a very long time. Temari winced at the sound of her brother's normally deep voice crack from shock.

'Well, hehehe…yea." She giggled, trying to sound innocent, but Gaara wasn't buying it.

"And you got on a plane? In your condition, you got on a PLANE?"

"In my _condition_? I don't have a DISEASE, Gaara, I'm pregnant. Don't worry I'll be fine."

"For fuck's sake you could give birth right now! Sit down, sit." He ushered towards the couch, trying to hide his rising panic.

"Gaara, deep breath. Relax. I'm not due till 4 more weeks; I'll be out of your hair in 1. Then you can fly back home and visit the little darling." She smiled, rubbing her stomach and humming unconsciously. Gaara gave a meek smile and replied with a "Mhm." They both knew what that meant. It meant 'I'm not getting on a plane to see _anyone_, but it's nice to dream.'

The seconds turned into minutes. Gaara standing up, watching Temari intently as if shed go into labor that very moment, and Temari, rubbing her stomach thinking of her unborn child and her darling Shikamaru back home. As if a lightbulb had gone off, Temari gasped 'Oh, Kankuro!" and huffed up and walked into the kitchen, towards the phone. The sudden mentioning of his brother's name caused Gaara to jump a bit, and then he asked "What about him?"

"I said I'd call him as soon as I got in. Ya know, to check up on me?" she said, dialing his number then spinning the chord lazily through her fingers as if she were daydreaming.

"Hello...?Kanky...?Hey, I made it. Yep, I'm fine. No no, really I'm fine, just a little tired. Ok. Wanna talk to Gaara...? Alright. Goodnight." She then reluctantly hung up and gave Gaara a pained expression. He couldn't say he was surprised. Ever since they were kids, the brothers had always had an estranged relationship. To Kankuro, Gaara was the bastard child that took his beloved mother away; to Gaara, Kankuro was the undeserving favorite son who got all of his father's love and admiration. No matter how many times Temari tried, the two never could see eye to eye on anything. The last time they saw each other was a year ago at their father's funeral. They shook hands, and then parted, not looking back. He couldn't say he hated his brother, just didn't have much of a liking towards him.

'Well, I…I think I'll hit the sack." Temari chimed, breaking the awkward silence. She was about to plop on the couch when Gaara nodded towards the stairs. Temari smiled and said quietly "Nighty night, brother." and hobbled up the stairs. Gaara gave a small smile, then took off his robe, plopped onto his couch and turned on the tv.

* * *

It was 1 in the morning. All was silent, all was serene. Well, it _was_, that is until Neji began tripping down the empty streets singing "Downtown" loudly and slightly out of tune. Yes, apparently 6 shots were too many for the Hyuuga, as the gang dropped him off at the bus stop. Naruto was reluctant to do so, but Neji insisted saying "Nonono! Dude, I…I wanna WALK." Naruto hadn't known this man for more than a day, but he could tell that he was completely and utterly…a happy drunk. Taking into account that the busstop was only a block from Neji's house, he let him out, and after putting his number in the man's pocket, said he'd call him in the morning. Now Neji was stumbling down the sidewalk, a few yards from his house, and about to wake up the entire neighborhood.

Temari groaned and turned on the lamp next to her bed. Her blonde hair was taken down from their usual ponytails, and was hanging loosely down her shoulder. Her dark purple silk nightgown protruded because of her bundle of joy. She rubbed her eyes and cursed under her breathe as she opened up her windows and screamed 'Hey, bud! SOME people are tryin' to SLEEP over here!" she had much less finesse then Gaara did when it came to being annoyed…hell this goes passed annoyed, some drunk had woken her out of a sound sleep.

Neji looked up into the lit bedroom window and started manically laughing and pointing at the angered blonde.

Temari growled under her breath and did what any hormonal, exhausted, and downright pissed woman would do: "GAARA!" she screamed. She ran (or as best as she could) down the stairs, and shook her baby brother awake, who had fallen asleep watching reruns of Good Times.

"Gaara, wake up. There's some drunken bastard outside who won't let me sleep!" this was a rare moment when Gaara wanted to strangle his sister. He didn't sleep often, his insomnia kept him from achieving that goal. This was the one night where he actually fell into a blissful sleep, and he wakes up looking into the eyes of his angered sister.

"What?" Gaara hissed, tired and confused.

"Just look!" she said, grabbing his arm and ushering his limp form to the living room window. The two looked, but saw no one.

"Temari I don't see-"

"Oh my god…" she breathed out, and pointed to the ground, where the man had blackout, hard onto the concrete.

Without another word or sound, Temari rushed towards the door and into the street.

"T-Temari, wait!" Gaara stuttered, surprised by her actions. He stopped on the porch and watched as his sister examined the man, then grabbed him by his arms and began pulling him near the house.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, as soon as she neared the steps.

"He's blacked out, Gaara, its freezing out here, let him inside!"

"No." he said, eyes glaring with fury. This was _his_ house, and he wouldn't have some stranger in _his_ house.

"Gaara, we can't leave him out here!"

"It'll teach that idiot not to get fuckfaced drunk, then." He spat out, crossing his arms across his chest. He couldn't tell Temari the real reason why he didn't want him in. It wasn't because he was a callous person, or that he didn't want to help this man. It's that he just _couldn't_. To have some stranger stay in his house, even for a night, would be worse than death itself.

"Gaara" Temari began, eyes as icy as her brother's, "Either you let him in, or I'm staying out here."

It took Gaara a minute to process this. He couldn't have Temari stay out there all night with some drunk. She could get sick, then the baby would get sick, and the sickness could get so severe that she goes into premature labor and ends up dying while giving birth to a sickly baby, just like Gaara's mother had done. Horrible scenarios flashed through his mind, in a split second. He simply flinched and closed his eyes in an attempt to stop them, let go of the doorknob and whispered, "Place him on the couch."

* * *

**Ooooh things are unfoooldiiiing lol thanks to the people who are reviewing it means a lot to me, and its great inspiration. I have summerschool tomorrow (for English, ironically lol), so I may update then or Tuesday at the latest. Please keep reviewing, and Ill get back as soon as possible**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Wack

Gaara glared fiercely at the unconscious body of the stranger. The stranger knocked out on _his_ couch, staying in _his _house, and breathing _his_ air. If looks could kill, the stranger would've sizzled like frying bacon. Gaara had learned long ago that glaring was a great way to get a point across. As a child, he was never one for talking, but his eyes could always tell another person what was on his mind, as his sister soon found out.

Temari walked into the living room and smirked as she saw her brother standing over the unconscious man with pure anger visible in his eyes. "As soon as he's well and can walk, we'll kick him out, alright? It's just I can't drag him onto his porch and I know _you_ won't." she sighed, placing a bucket and some chips on the floor next to the man. Not that it showed, but those words cut Gaara deep. He didn't want to be seen as weak or incompetent but…she was right, he couldn't do it.

"Should we call the hospital?" he mumbled, turning his head and staring out the window. Temari turned to see him, puzzled by how his emotion had changed from anger to sadness, but brushed it off. "No, they can't do anything for him. Once he wakes up he'll just have to sleep off the hangover, then he'll be fine. Not like they can prescribe him anything…Well! I'm off to bed!" she declared, as she stretched and walked towards the steps. Gaara swiftly turned around, just in time to see Temari at the tops of the stairs.

"Keep an eye on him, ok?" she said with a sly smile, as she clicked the bedroom door closed before her brother could protest.

Gaara stared in disbelief at his closed door, from his place near the window. She had woken him up, and then had the **nerve** to tell him to keep watch? He let out a sigh as he slowly ran his hand down his face.

"This is not my night…"

Gaara had had just about enough of this kid. Every hour on the hour he'd wake up for 10 seconds. And before Gaara could get a word out to briefly explain the situation, he'd vomit into the plastic bucket and black out once more. After about the 4th time, Gaara could take it no longer. He was beginning to think he had alcohol poisoning, and the last thing he needed was a dead body at his house and policeman knocking on his door. He growled under his breath and rose from his seat, storming up his stairs to wake Temari.

"Temari, wake up, I think he's dying." He stated in a bored tone. The only response he got was a few murmurs from his slumbering sibling. "Temari…? Fuck it." He sighed, and went back downstairs. She'd be awake soon enough; he could handle another episode of upchucking. As he was walking downstairs he heard a noise…a groan? Was the boy awake? He hurried down the stairs to see the boy's face in the plastic bucket, vomiting once more. His hair was conveniently tied back, as if he knew he'd retch all night. Gaara just sighed and walked back to his chair, assuming the boy would faint again after his episode. He began to swing his legs and stare at the floor, waiting to her the '_plop_' from the couch as the boy's limp body collided onto it. But…that never happened.

"Where am I?" asked a weak scratchy voice.

Gaara jumped slightly, surprised that he was well enough to form coherent sentences. Now, Gaara was known for having a slightly delayed reaction to personally asked or _demanded_ questions. It was a simple enough answer, presumably: "You're in my home. You blacked out across the street and I brought you back here" Of course that's what Gaara had _intended_ to say. It was just like his writing, it sounded perfect inside but was a complete train wreck when expelling his thoughts out. Besides, he was too distracted by the stranger's striking good looks. He had bistre colored hair that swayed with every movement of his body. He also had creamy, porcelain like skin; that matched his pearl colored eyes.

"Uum…" was all he could say, as he stared into the pale eyes of the sick looking male.

"Where the hell am I?" the stranger demanded again, but with slight fear in his voice, as his body tensed and he positioned himself to sit up straight in case he had to make a mad dash for the door.

"My…my house." He said, carefully.

"And why the hell am I in _your_ house?!" the stranger exclaimed, looking more angry than confused. His back was arched, Gaara didn't know if he was about to pounce on him or run like hell.

"I-"

"Oh you're awake!" came the reply from the top of the stairs, as Temari gave a motherly smile as she sifted down the stairs. "You must be very confused about all this, well, um, I'm Temari Sabaku, and this is my brother Gaara Sabaku." she explained, quickly, as to not lose the boy's attention. "Well, it seems you got pretty intoxicated last night, and passed out on the street, so I bought you back here. Don't worry; you're only a few feet from your house. It's just I couldn't take you there since I hadn't a key." She chuckled nervously, and scratched her head. Though Neji was still a bit hung-over, and the sound of the woman's loud voice seemed to echo through his head like a jackhammer, he concluded that this was an adequate reason for why he was in someone else's home.

"Oh well…" he started, placing his hand over his throbbing head, "Thank you. Um, please let me-"

"No, no, everything's fine, don't worry!" Temari assured, noticing the boy going into his pants to retrieve his wallet. "Just know your limits while drinking, ok?" she scolded, waving a finger at the man as if lecturing a child. "Yes. Of course, sorry…oh, I'm Neji. Neji Hyuuga." He said, offering her his hand. Instead of shaking it, Temari gasped and put her hands to her mouth. "Neji HYUUGA? Like, from Hyuuga Corporations? THAT Hyuuga?!" she then turned to her semi-mute sibling and whispered while giving a child-like grin "We totally nursed a HYUUGA back to health!" she squealed, almost sounding…dare Gaara say…_giddy?_

Neji just stared, feeling a mixture of annoyance, embarrassment and nausea. Well, he supposed the nausea came from the alcohol. Everyone always looked so amazed when he told them his last name. Begin a Hyuuga didn't make him anymore successful, important or talented than anyone else. It was just a name; a name which was starting to annoy him more and more by the hour.

Temari quickly grabbed his hand and shook it excitedly. "It was a PLEASURE having you in ou-well, my brother's home, Neji Hyuuga. Please stop by anytime, we insist!" That last sentence made Gaara's ear perk up. 'Please stop by sanytime'? Was she deranged? It took all of his willpower not the throw the stranger out before, and he wasn't even awake. Temari, noticing her brother's sudden change in demeanor, flashed him a quick glare, meaning 'Don't you start with me'. Which, Gaara returned with a glare that read, 'And who's house is this anyway?!'

Neji was a bit uncomfortable. Here he was in someone else's home, his hand being suspended by some pregnant blonde woman, glaring at a red headed, dark ring eyed man. No one was even paying attention to him, not that he minded, but he wanted to go home.

"So, I…I think I'll be leaving no-"

"Oh, please don't go, have breakfast with us!" Temari chimed. The thought of breakfast made Neji's stomach churn. If he had any food left in his organ, it would've been upchucked back into that all too familiar bucket.

"No thanks, I-I need to get home. Call my family."

"Well, how about dinner then? I mean, not to sound pushy but it's rare someone new moves in next door. And I'm not just sucking up cus your family's rich!" she added, smiling.

Neji chuckled, as his contemplated this. He didn't really have anything planned for dinner; possibly some takeout or pizza. "Alright, thank you."

"Alright! Well, maybe you can stop by around 7, or-" Temari was cut off by Gaara clearing his throat. Not in a way one does when he's sick, in a way one does to tell another to shut their pie hole. Neji, picking up on this, gave a humble smile and added, "Maybe you both would…like to go to a movie later? It's the least I could do after you took care of me." Mentally, Neji grimaced. He could barely stand and he felt as if he'd relieve himself all over the carpet at any moment.

"That'd be great, thanks." She replied, quietly, and with a small smile. "I hope it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all. You can come around…8? See you then." He waved, and exited the small home, clutching his stomach once he thought he was in the clear, and began power walking to the nearest toilet.

Temari returned with a smile of her own, as the long haired boy softly left the home. As soon as both doors closed silently, she glared, furiously at her brother. "What is the **matter** with you, Gaara that was a **Hyuuga**!" she shrieked, clawing her hands into the air, wishing it was her brother's neck. "And he had overstayed his welcome." He replied, dryly, as he went into the kitchen to make some toast.

"Don't you have any manners or feelings?!" she screamed, not knowing how just much her words damaged her brother. He had manners. Damn it, he did care about people. He wasn't a robot; he just couldn't get close to them. It was impossible, no sense in trying.

"I'm not going to the movies."

"Fine, just stay in here all day!"

"Not this again." He growled, as he slammed his hands on the counter, and stormed past his sister.

"Yes this again, Gaara!" she cried, forming an icy air around the entire room. The scream halted Gaara dead in his tracks as he was climbing up the stairs; his head hung low from shame, and his hand shaking from grabbing the railing so tight.

"You never leave…ever…its not normal, Gaara. It's not healthy and it's not normal! What's the matter with you?! What are you hiding from, what are you so afraid of?!"

"Temari calm down, you're pregnant." He whispered through clenched teeth, eyes closed.

"To hell with me, what about YOU?! You've become so reclusive…so paranoid…I don't know who you are anymore. Gaara…I'm going to the movies. I'm sick and tired of waiting for you. No one's gonna wait for you your entire life. You need to learn to step out of this insane bubble and live your lif-"

"Are you done preaching?" he hissed, colder than he intended for it to sound, "Because I'd really like to be alone right now."

Temari looked as if she'd cry. She grabbed her coat, and stormed out from the backdoor, slamming it so hard Gaara could've sworn a cup had fallen from the kitchen counter and smashed. He slowly let go of the rail. His eyes, cold and lifeless, yet his mouth uttered the words, "What the hell is wrong with me?"

* * *

**Yes, this chapter took a while. Sorry if it started off slow, but I wanted to get a lot of details in there. Summerschool was hell today, I almost fell asleep xX so hopefully they don't load us up with homework and I can update tomorrow. Please review if you like it, thanks for reading! **


	5. Calling All Skeletons

_It was dark. Silence. No sound at all. It was cold…God, it was so cold. It was freezing. What was that? Footsteps? Yes, they were…they were getting closer. They weren't his brother or sister's. They were heavy. Those heavy powerful footsteps belonged to the head of the house…his father._

_The cellar door was yanked open, almost off of its hinges. The spiders began to climb their webs to protect their eggs from harm. A rat scurried by and dove into a hole in the wall, startled by the light that now shone inside of the hellish basement. And in the corner of the prison, was a small redheaded boy, with a scarred forehead. He was curled up as small as he could manage, holding his knees, sitting upright praying the man would spare him._

_The man grinned and chuckled maliciously under his breath. He was a tall, domineering looking man, with broad shoulders, tan skin and rough brown hair. He stood like a mountain over the pale, shaking boy. The man grabbed the boy by his hair, making him shriek in pain, which only caused the man to laugh even more. He threw the boy against the wall, and laughed as he heard a small 'crack' from his left arm._

"_You useless bastard." The man growled, evilly, all essence of fun vanishing from his face in the blink of an eye. "Get up."_

_The boy shook uncontrollably from fear. His arm…it was broken; but he dared not think of what else would happen if he disobeyed his father. The boy grunted in pain as he held his arm, and picked himself from the floor while trying to keep the tears from falling. His father would hit him harder if he saw the tears. He sniffed back his pain and stumbled to his feet, biting his tongue to keep from screaming from the throbbing heat in his arm. He was only six; he wasn't built to be a soldier._

_Without any warning, the man backhanded the small boy, the force of which knocked him back on his side, hitting his head against the brick wall. The man walked slowly, tauntingly, up to the boy's small frame lying unprotected on the cold cement floor. "Your siblings and I are leaving for the night. Monsters such as you can not leave. To show your face in public would cause the deaths of thousands. You retched, disgusting, __**beast! **__To even consider you going __**anywhere**__ with my family! You are not part of my family! You're a filthy __**demon!"**__, with that the man kicked the small boy in the ribs, hearing a 'pop' and the boy's muffled cries of pain. _

_The man spat on the boy's face in disgust. He walked back towards the cold wooden door, slamming it before hissing, "You monstrous demon…"_

Gaara shot up from his bed, sweat dripping down his scarred forehead, heart racing and body shaking. His eyes darted around his bedroom, thinking he'd see spiders, bricks, or worse…darkness. After a few seconds of observing, he noticed he was safe in his home. Not in _his_. It was just a nightmare…just another nightmare. No, nightmares weren't real. That was another damned memory. He tried to steady his breathing but to no avail, the memory was making him panic. Without thinking he turned from his side and sat on the side of the bed, legs touching the floor. He put his head between his legs and tried to stop the panic. It was a trick Temari had taught him, growing up. Everytime he'd get scared, he'd hyperventilate, and usually end up passing out. If it wasn't for his sister, he probably would've passed out just then. After a few minutes, Gaara regained control, and plopped on the bed on his back. His placed the crook of his arm over his eyes and took one deep breath. He needed to stop doing that, it hurt like hell and wore him out. He removed his arm and opened one eye.

_8:15…so she was serious about leaving me._

"I hope your having fun." He whispered to no one in particular, as he rolled over on his side and grabbed his knees, sick and tired of feeling like a weakling.

Temari and Neji sat on the bus, which was conveniently empty with the exception of 4 people. She had to admit, it was pretty awkward. What possessed her to agree to go to a movie with a complete stranger? For one, he could be an alcoholic. Secondly, it didn't look right having an older pregnant woman attending a movie with a younger male. And thirdly, she was MARRIED! Not that she'd ever cheat on Shikamaru, but all this seemed way too out of her comfort zone. So, why had se agreed to this so suddenly?

_Oh yea, I thought Gaara'd be here._

She lowered her head a bit, thinking of the hurtful words she'd told her brother.

_No, he needed to hear them. _

She reassured herself that many time…but still it didn't help the painful tugging on her heart.

"Mrs. Sabaku, are you alright?" Neji asked, noticing the woman's sullen disposition.

Temari shot her head up, and looked surprisingly at the boy. "Oh yea, just thinking. Sorry to zone out. And I _told_ you, just call me Temari. I'm only 5 years older than you, ya know." She said with a kind smile.

Neji smiled politely and clasped his hands over his lap. He just wanted to make it to the movie theatres, back home, and into his bed. He'd forgotten to call Hinata back, or return 13 of Naruto's missed calls. He made a mental note of calling Hinata first; something told him Naruto would talk a whole lot.

It wasn't to say he didn't like Temari, he really did. She had a great personality, and the short time he'd met her she made him laugh a lot. It was just he didn't find himself attracted to her…not that he would want to be. She was with child so obviously she belonged to another. But still, sometimes it worried the Hyuuga that never in his life did he ever find a female attractive. He remembered when he was twelve; he would find his cousin attractive. But he concluded that those were hormones and nothing else.

_Great, I get attracted to someone and it ends up being incest, _he thought with a smirk.

"Hey!" Temari snapped, waking Neji out of his daydream. "Here's our stop, let's go!" she exclaimed, holding her hand out. The Hyuuga smiled, took it, and the two stepped off of the train and into the majestic regal theater.

Naruto sat on the countertop of the empty Akimichi's Pizza, listening to his iPod. In his ears blasted the delicious lyrics of Mindless Self Indulgence's 'Kill the Rock'. Before he realized it, he was singing outloud, not that anyone seemed to notice in the vacant facility.

"I can handle this but I can't handle anything else!" he screamed, as he spun from his seat on the yellow countertop and paraded around, shaking his ass and jiving about. Before he realized it, Choji entered from the swinging doors of the kitchen.

'Naruto? Naruto! Naruto!!" he screamed, catching the blonde's attention from his tunes.

"Oh hey, Cho-bro!" Naruto laughed, still thrusting about since one earpiece still lied in his ear.

"Naruto, we need you to deliver a pizza to 11345, Cla-"

"Yea yea, believe me, I know the address." Naruto sighed as he turned his music off. "I've been to that same dude's house almost everyday since I got this job. I even invited him to a party but he turned me down!"

"Ha, you invited a total stranger to a party? No wonder he turned ya down." The chubby boy wearing a red, dough stained apron, joked.

"Well he wasn't a _real_ stranger! Anyway, since you had to work that day I invited this new guy Neji, he's so awesome, you'd LOVE him! Though, we had to drive him home, he got mega-wasted."

"Fascinating." Choji smirked, wiping his powdered hands on his apron. "So, take the pizza to the house, and be back in 20 in time for closing, got it?"

"Yea, sure thing." Naruto said nonchalantly. He ran in the back, grabbed the pizza, hopped in his delivery car and sped off. As he was driving, he began blasting his music even louder, punching his horn with every note. **"My shit is wack!!"** he screamed, wide eyed and horn blaring.

Pulling up into the driveway of the all too familiar man's house, he sighed and prepared for the awkward encounter. He took the pizza out of the seat and trudged up the steps, but before he could even knock on the door, the redheaded man yanked open the door, and spat out the words "Alright, I need your help."

* * *

**Uhooooh things are getting complicated XD So, I think Ill update tomorrow if they don't load us up with homework. ALSO, I had to throw in my favorite band of all time Mindless Self Indulgence, if you've never heard of them look them up their like sex for your ears haha but yea. Please review so I can update real soon, and I hope it's going alright for everybody. And sorry to stop on a cliffy but my hands hurt TT haha**

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Sorry You're Not A Winner

Neji stared boredly at the movie screen with little to no interest visible on his face. Not that you could see his features in such a dim lit theatre. The movie the two had agreed on was filmed in a cave, which meant any form of lighting wasn't happening anytime soon.

The pale eyed boy sighed and rested his head upon his hand in a tired fashion. He wondered if Temari was enjoying the movie.

He tilted his head slightly to see that the woman was in the same position he was: head tilted, resting on her hand, staring unimpressed at the screen. He assumed he'd been staring for too long because Temari's eyes darted over to him, which made her straighten her posture up a bit, to look less bored.

"Enjoying the movie?" she whispered sarcastically, as to not disturb the other's who were actually enjoying this flop.

The Hyuuga smirked and replied with his own sarcastic comment, "If 'enjoying' something makes me wanna eat a gun, then yes."

Temari chuckled slightly, then groaned in pain and grabbed her stomach. Neji's breath caught in his throat. She wasn't going into labor was she? She did look _pretty_ pregnant.

_Oh no._

"Are-are you alright?" he asked, louder than he had intended. A few heads turned back to see what the commotion was all about, but then dismissed it when Temari replied with a faint "Yea, I'm ok. She was just kicking." She then began to stroke her protruding stomach, and giggled slightly.

Neji sighed and leaned back in his chair, more relaxed. He hardly knew this woman yet he was so concerned over her. He remembered when his late aunt was in labor with Hanabi. Screams were echoing off of the walls of the Hyuuga mansion. Nurses raced in and out of the master bedroom caring basins of hot water and bloody gauges and sheets. It was enough to traumatize anyone, let alone a 7 year old boy.

Temari, noticing she had given the boy a bit of a fright, gave an understanding smile and said "Hey, how bout we ditch this train wreck and go get some grub?"

Neji looked up, nodded, and the 2 grabbed what was left of their sodas and skipped out of the exit doors.

"You need my…help?" the now confused blonde asked, placing the pizza on the porch and putting his hands inside his jacket pockets.

_What the fuck have I done?_

That was a good question. Gaara's mind was abuzz with responses and explanations but it seemed as if he had physically frozen after opening the door and forcing the words out like vomit.

_Flashback _

_It was 9 o' clock. Gaara was in bed, but he wasn't sleeping. He didn't feel up to sleeping anymore, not after the awful nightmare. He just lay curled in his bed, staring outside of his half-closed blinds at the glowing moon. He was still shaken from the attack, so he didn't feel like moving. He didn't feel like thinking. He didn't feel like living. _

_He shut his eyes angrily at his thoughts. He was too much of a coward to even think of suicide. Plus, to imagine Temari returning here to find his lifeless body hanging by the fan in the kitchen, which would probably cause her to go into premature labor, was enough to make him hate himself even more. He was ruining his own life, he wouldn't ruin the life of his sister and unborn niece, he swore on that. _

_A fly was buzzing around the quiet room. Normally, Gaara would get the fly swatter to exterminate the vile insect, but he honestly couldn't care less. A stupid fly was the least of his worries._

_The bug landed on Gaara's arm, making his eyes flick open. The fly moved its legs over its mouth and walked over his arm, tickling the hairs on it. Gaara's face contorted at the image of the disease infested insect touching a part of his body. He twitched his arm just enough to startled the fly and let it buzz away, but it didn't move, it stayed on his arm as if nothing had happened._

_His father had been right, he was pathetic. He was useless. Hell, he couldn't even shoo a fucking fly. He was so tired of this. Tired of feeling so scared; so foreign in his own body. He needed help. _

'_Stop thinking it and actually do something' he thought angrily to himself._

_He closed his eyes again, wishing the rapid thoughts would leave him so he could get some peace. But he was right. He'd always tell himself he needed help. He needed a doctor, or a therapist, but he never called anyone. He was probably the worst case they'd ever seen…a loss cause, they'd probably all agree._

'_DO SOMETHING!' he thought, frustrated with his own self. Gaara opened his eyes, staring determinedly at the telephone cross from his room. He had had enough._

"_I will…"_

_End of flashback._

Now he wished he could take it all back. In a fit of excitement he dialed the only number he trusted that would send him his only known acquaintance.

Akimichi's Pizza for Naruto.

He ordered a pizza, even though he wasn't at all hungry. He waited anxiously on his couch for the sound of the delivery car to pull in his driveway, which it did, blasting some odd sounded song. A second after he heard the boy close his car door, he felt a huge wave of fear sweep over him.

_You shouldn't do this._

_He's going to laugh at you._

_He's going to think you're a freak…a monster._

It amazed him how he had encouraged himself into this, only to dissuade himself seconds in. Gaara was about to backtrack. He was about to go in his room close his door, and wait till the boy left, thinking he had gotten the wrong house, perhaps. But no, he had had enough. He ran to the door, yanked it open, and forced out the words, "Alright, I need your help."

He opened his shut eyes, to see a very confused blonde, with his hands in his pockets, asking him to repeat himself.

Gaara gulped; what the fuck had he been thinking? This all sounded perfect until he physically saw the blonde.

"You, uh…said you needed my help in somethin'?" Naruto asked, cautiously, as to not push the already nervous looking man over the edge.

"You…" he started. His voice was barely audible, which caused Naruto to lean in, causing Gaara to take a step inside the safety of his home.

"C'mon man, what's wrong? Is it the pizza?" the boy asked, picking up the box and almost shoving it at him.

"No, I…I'm Gaara." The man choked out. It felt like his throat was closing up.

Naruto's eyes bugged out. Had he given him personal identification?!

Without waning, Naruto grabbed Gaara's hand and shook it as if he were on cocaine.

"I'm Naru-well I guess you already know that! Oh man this is so awesome, we can get to know each other know, ya know?! Oh man, sweet! Ok well, Gaara, how's it going?!" the boy spat out hurriedly, as if he had all of this on his mind just for this occasion.

Gaara felt like running in his room locking the doors, and rocking in a corner, but he figured he was on a roll, so to speak, and kept wit it.

"F-Fine…you?"

"I am fan-fucking-TASTIC! Man I thought you were a mute, I swear, I'm glad were finally gettin' to talk. Still, I'm kinda bummed you turned me down on my offer about the bloc party. We all got wasted! Ha! Isn't that a song?! Anyways, man I-fuuuuck, I forgot I have to get back to the shop to close down. Hey, wanna come along, there's space in the cutlass for two!" the blonde offered excitedly.

Gaara stared at him for a few seconds. He wanted to-well, no he didn't. He would've liked to have done it, but the mere thought of driving in a car with a stranger was completely paralyzing him with fear.

"N-No…I have…pizza to eat." He explained robotically.

Naruto winked and replied "I gotcha." And handed him his excuse laced in cheese. "Maybe we can hang tomorrow. Drop by Akimichi's tomorrow, we can hang, yea?"

Gaara couldn't decline. This could be his first, dare he say, 'friend'?

"…Ok." He replied with a small smile.

Naruto looked about to burst with happiness. He sprang up and giggled like a school girl and said "Sweet, man! It's a date the-gaaaaah I gotta run, Gaara! See ya tomorrow!" and with that the blonde ran off and jumped inside his car.

"Heh…he didn't even take the money." Gaara smiled to himself.

_Good thing too, I didn't have any._

So tomorrow he had…a date. A date with the blonde boy.

Gaara paled, slightly, letting it all sink in.

"_Drop by Akimichi's tomorrow, we can hang, yea?"_

"Drop…by?" he breathed out, staring out of his open door into the empty streets in the pale moonlight.

He bit his lip and closed the door with his foot.

"Oh fuck…"

Temari and Neji laughed together at a diner, enjoying a light helping of French Fries and milkshakes. Temari pointed out that Neji had a milk moustache, which, for some reason, made it impossible for the both of them to contain their giggles. Neji would've never laughed at something as childish and immature as a milk moustache back at the mansion, but for some reason…here, he felt so open and free.

"Well well…" a mysterious blonde man exhaled, peering over his menu, staring at the Hyuuga from across the room.

"Is it him?! Huh?! The Hyuu-hmph!" the mysterious man covered the mouth of the man sitting next to him.

"Quiet IDIOT, before he sees us." The blonde demanded. His masked partner crossed his arms, much like a pouting child, and sat back in his chair.

"Well, _is_ it him?"

"Yes…it's him alright. The Hyuuga." The mysterious blonde man, sneered, hiding his face behind the menu.

"Haha! The Boss will be so proud! He's worth a lot of money, eh?" the childish man clapped happily, much to his partner's annoyance.

"A lot doesn't begin to describe the quantity of money he's worth." The blonde commented maliciously.

"Hehehe! I can't wait till we strike!"

"Hn…" the blonde smiled, taking a sip of his dark coffee.

* * *

**Will Gaara enjoy his date with Naruto or will he let his fears take over?**

**Btw, I used 'date' as in a date for FRIENDS. This isn't a Gaanaru people!**

**And who are the mysterious people targeting Neji? (I'm sure the majority of you already have a clue haha)**

**Id like to thank everyone who's been reviewing, it really helps :) **

**Ill update soon, and Ill try and make the chapters longer, I notice they're pretty short**

**Thanks for reading **


	7. Give 'Em Hell, Kid

Hinata sat at the dinner table with her sister and father, but her mind was elsewhere. She was thinking about her beloved cousin. She let her mind wander on how he must've been adapting. He hadn't called today, which wasn't like him.

She scraped her fork against her china plate, nervously, trying not to draw attention to herself, but doing just that. She looked up momentarily to see Hanabi gazing at her intuitively, making Hinata look down and swallow. Hanabi had always had a way of detecting when something was bothering one of her family members, particularly Hinata. If Hinata felt troubled by a comment Hiashi made towards her, Hanabi could always tell; Hinata would hang her head slightly lower, walk a tad bit slower, and have a small smile on her face that looked _too _forced. Yes, Hanabi could always tell.

Tonight, was no different, something was amiss. Hinata fidgeted uncomfortably, feeling her sister's stare from across the lengthy dinner table. She bit her lip, waiting for the inevitable questions from her sister to surface like a shaken bottle of soda.

"Hinata, what's wrong?" Hanabi asked in a tone that insisted she be honest and not try to lie.

Hiashi looked up, oblivious to the whole scene.

"It's nothing." She mumbled head down. Hinata began poking her mashed potatoes at an attempt to shut Hanabi up…which it didn't.

"It's something." The youngest instigated, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, staring down Hinata as if _she_ were the youngest.

Hinata looked up, a bit more vigor visible in her eyes, and stated louder, "It's none of y-your concern." Hinata blushed slightly, hoping she could get the phrase out without a stutter.

Hanabi 'hmphed' and uncrossed her arms, leaned back in the chair, and began to stir her mashed potatoes. "Father" she began, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, "I believe Hinata misses her dear Neji." She smirked.

Hinata shot her sister a glare, which Hanabi returned with her usual smirk. Hanabi had always teased Hinata over her love for Neji, joking about it being perverse. Hinata would _never_ have _those_ kinds of feelings for her cousin. She loved him with all of her heart as family, and nothing more. But Hanabi always had a smart comment to make everytime her and Neji were talking together, or in a room together; it was disgusting and immature. Hinata had heard enough from her brat of a sister. She would usually ask her father for permission to excuse herself from the table, but being in an outrage, she slammed her hands on the table and stormed up to her bedroom.

Hiashi let out a long sigh, and looked hard at his youngest daughter, who was busy sipping her tea and bashing her eyelashes as if she had done nothing wrong.

"Hanabi. Excuse yourself."

Hanabi looked betrayed, "But father, I-"

"Do not protest me, daughter. Excuse yourself." He declared, sterner this time.

Hanabi's mouth was agape. She was her father's favorite, his sweet little girl, his darling Na-Na! Reality set in after a few uncomfortable seconds of Hiashi glaring and Hanabi looking shocked. Without a word, she arose from her seat, took her plate into the kitchen, intentionally splashed it into the sink and stomped to her bedroom, defeated.

Hiashi massaged his temples, mulling things over.

_My daughters, my daughters, my daughters…_

It seemed as if Hanabi's main goal was to make Hinata's life a living hell, either by mortifying her or just angering her. Also, Hinata was so self conscious and frail. If you gave her a slight bit of constructive criticism, you'd think she'd break into pieces.

His deep thought turned into a headache as he began to think of his late wife.

_How would things be if you were still with us, my dear?_

Hinata sat on the edge of her bed, tears stinging her eyes, phone up to her ear.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

"Hello-"

"Neji!"

"This is Neji. Sorry, I'm not here at the mome-"

Hinata hung up her phone, all but crushing it against the charger. He hadn't picked up his phone in _hours_. What was he doing? Where was he? Or better yet, was he even thinking of her?

Neji laughed on the bus ride home, his cheeks tinted pink from the strain of smiling. Who knew such idiotic jokes could make him chuckle so much? If someone told him he'd actually find a friend the first week here, he would've scoffed in their face. But no, this was the most fun he'd had in a while…not counting the bloc party which led to his hangover, of course.

In the middle of a fit after hearing a dirty sex joke from Temari, Neji's phone began vibrating in his pocket. Hardly glancing at it, to see it was Hianta, he turned it on 'off' and began another hearty conversation with his impregnated companion.

"Oh that reminds me" Temari began, "I forgot to call Gaara to tell him I'd be late. I hope he isn't worrying over me." She then chuckled under her breath, "He's probably paced a hole in the carpet."

Neji stared at Temari for a second, noticing her cheery disposition change to a bit of remorse after mentioning her brother.

"Aaah…so, Temari. Not to sound nosey, but-"

"Haha, there's ALWAYS a 'but'. Well, continue, Neji." She said formally, lacing her fingers on her lap and staring at her new found friend, awaiting his question.

Neji blushed slightly; his question could be seen as inappropriate.

"Well…how…"

_How do I word this?_

"What's the matter with your brother?" he spat out, not meaning for it to sound as harsh as it did.

Temari was taken aback by the question, but could tell he was sincere. She thought over what to tell Neji, sighed for a moment, then concluded she should spill the beans, so to speak.

"Well, ya see…" she began, leaning closer to Neji and talking lower, even though the bus was pretty vacant. "Gaara, he…he's just a bit…off, I 'spose." She said simply, ruffling her top left pigtaill, something she was known to do when thinking of an answer for a difficult question.

"I see." Neji added.

No, he didn't see. That didn't answer his question at all. Well, he supposed a vague question deserved a vague response, so he shrugged it off.

After riding in a few minutes of awkward silence, Temari stated with a smirk, "Not the answer you wanted, huh?"

Neji stared, a bit confused as to what she meant. Noticing the confusion on the brunette's face, she smiled and added, "Gaara didn't mean to come off of as rude. It's just, he's naturally distrustful of people." She held a sad smile as she stared down at nothing in particular.

"Our father wasn't too fond of him. He told him lies about how he _murdered_ our mother. It wasn't true. Our mother died giving birth to him, it wasn't his fault at all. Our uncle, Yashamaru, committed suicide after the death of our mother. Father told Gaara that he had caused his death as well. He treated him like a monster, sheltering him from the rest of the world, and because of that he's grown to have a bit of an inferiority complex." Temari blurted out, deadpanned, as if she'd been holding this information in for years.

Neji stared at her, seeing the anger and sadness in her eyes. For once, he had nothing to say…he was completely speechless. His father had died when Neji was young, and even though Hiashi was hard on his family, he knew deep down inside he loved them all. To have no love for your own blood…Neji couldn't fathom it.

Temari beamed instantly, startling Neji out of his depression for the Sabaku family. "But don't worry! He's slowly learning I'm makin' sure of that!" she declared, sporting a peace sign and a wink. Neji chuckled and nodded in agreement.

She was a good sister.

For some reason, she reminded him of Hinata.

Dates.

Temari.

Dates.

Temari.

It was late…where was Temari?

Tomorrow, he had to leave the house.

Dates.

Temari.

Damn it.

Gaara was pacing, again. He hated when he paced but it was as if his legs had minds of their own. He walked circle after circle around the small living room, wringing his hands and mumbling incoherently about time, Temari, and dates.

She had gone out with that damn Hyuuga. Where did she get off going out while 8 months pregnant with a total and complete stranger?! Was she just asking to get ra-well, he supposed the worst had already been done by Nara.

It was already a quarter passed 12, how fucking long was that movie, anyway?

As if on cue, a key was heard being turned through the front door, as Temari stumbled in with a weary looking Hyuuga in tow.

Overwhelming relief rushed over the redhead, only to have anger overpower it seeing Neji in his home. Without thinking of his actions, he sifted over to the duo, and before Temari could greet her brother, exclaimed "Where the fuck where you?!"

"ExCUSE me?" Temari asked, shocked at her brother's behavior.

"Do you know how long I've been up waiting for you?!"

"Well, you're an insomniac I doubt you would've gotten mu-"

'Shut up! Just shut the fuck up! You never thought about me?! You never thought about how worried I was?! I thought you were **DEAD**!" Gaara's angry yells shook the whole house. Temari was, for once, scared of her brother. She saw the rage in his eyes, it reminded her of her father's eyes, and she just wanted to calm him down.

"G-Gaara…" she said, cradling her brother's soft face, "I'm safe. I'm fine. I just forgot to call is all! Neji took good ca-"

"Neji? You…" he stated, swirling his body around to a very uncomfortable Hyuuga.

Neji could do nothing but stare as the slightly shorter red head stalked up to him, making full eye contact and declared "Get your rich ass out of my house."

Neji was awe struck.

This was a far cry from the nervous redhead he had seen just hours before. He made a mental note not to upset the scarred man from here on out.

Neji cleared his throat, bent on explaining the situation to the enraged Sabaku sibling. He was known for being able to persuade many with his words. Neji was a great speaker, he could probably sway a blind man to buy glasses; he just needed to put his talent to work.

"Well, you see Gaa-"

"I won't repeat myself." He growled dangerously.

Ok, maybe he wouldn't be able to show off his talent with words…

Neji backed up slightly, and glanced at Temari, who nodded towards the door and gave a small reassuring smile…which did nothing to comfort the Hyuuga.

The door was slammed at the boy's back, as he was almost pushed out of the home.

"Well, that was an awful ending to a great outing." He sighed to himself. Neji stuffed his hands in his pockets, and began to stroll towards his house; still thinking of the man who nearly made him wet himself just moments ago. It struck him as odd that he couldn't be that persona all the time. Surely no one would mess with someone as controlling as he, even if he only showed his inner feelings for a few seconds.

His small smirk disappeared when he thought of the man's past though…he could see how he was protective of his sister, probably the only person who ever showed him affection. He should stop by tomorrow and formally apologize, hopefully he would've calmed down by-

"Neji."

Neji's eyes shot open as he noticed a man sitting on his stoop and a black van parked about 5 yards away.

"Neji Hyuuga?" the blonde man questioned with a sadistic smile.

"Who a-", that was all Neji could get out as a cloth was stuffed around his mouth, knocking him out in a matter of seconds.

"He's out cold! Did I do good, Deidara?!" the masked man bounced on his heels and pointed excitedly at the unconscious man.

Deidara slapped the back of his partner's head, "Quiet Tobi you idiot, before the neighbors hear us! Must I remind you the purpose of a sneak attack is to be STEALTHY?!" the blonde screamed, albeit louder than Tobi had.

"S-Sorry Dei-kun! What's next?"

The blonde smiled once again and hissed out "Why we take him to the boss and hold him for a hefty ransom of course. It's up to him to determine whether he's worth more dead or alive."

"Ooh! I see, I see!" Tobi exclaimed, hoisting up Neji by his arms, much like Temari did when he was drunk, and lifted him onto the van.

The two were shuffling towards the van when they heard a "HEY!" directed their way. They both spun around to see who had addressed them.

Gaara slammed the door, and sighed after ridding the man from his house. He was safe again…they were both safe again. He turned around slowly to see Temari glaring at him from across the room. He had never seen her look so angrily at him.

"I'm gettin' some air." She said flatly, as she bumped her shoulder past him and slammed the door in protest, to sit on the porch. Gaara glared daggers at her as she walked by, then stormed up the steps and slammed his bedroom door. She could sleep on the couch for all he cared.

Once outside, Temari fought the temptation to light a cigarette. She had been off, cold turkey, for 7 months, and she intended to keep it that way…for the baby. Her lips twitched at the familiar feeling of the stick between her lips, inhaling the warm soothing smoke to calm her nerves.

Waking her from her reverie, she heard a noise. A squeal? She looked up to see 2 men across the street next to a black van.

_Who would be out this time a night? And in the middle of the street, too._

She squinted, noticing one of them was carrying something. A duffel bag? A sleeping bag...? NEJI?!

"HEY!" Temari screamed, body reacting before her mind could control her actions.

Deidara turned to the pregnant woman, shock quickly turning to amusement.

"She was the bitch sitting with the Hyuuga!" Tobi pointed out, hoisting Neji into the back of the van.

"If she's of worth to the Hyuuga, she's of worth to us." The man explained, smirking wildly, "Get her, un."

"Yes!" Tobi screamed, running like a cheetah over to the pregnant woman. Before Temari could move 3 steps or even scream, the mysterious man grabbed her from behind in a sleeper hold, knocking her unconscious.

"Gaa…ra." She squeaked out, as her eyelids became too heavy, and she was swallowed by darkness.

"Hurry you idiot before we're seen!" the man hissed at his partner, struggling to carry the pregnant Temari and place her into the van.

"Hey, she's preggers, is this moral?" Tobi asked, completely serious for once.

His question was returned by another slap to the head by Deidara. "NOW you worry about morals?! Get in the car before I through you in the back with them!" Deidara screamed, losing his temper.

Tobi jumped in, calling shotgun rather boisterously, as the two sped down the road together.

**

* * *

**

THE END

**Just kidding! :D I'll update later…this chapter took me a lot longer than the others. Thanks to everyone who's reviewing! Bye!**


	8. Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?

Kankuro sped down the highway, going a soaring 98 mph. He was woken up this morning by a call from the police saying his sister and one of the famous Hyuugas had been abducted.

The middle Sabaku child dodged traffic as he beeped his horn obnoxiously, just trying to make it to his brother's home. He was told the police were there, questioning Gaara, absorbing any kind of information he had of the previous night. He imagined dozens of police in his brother's sanctuary, questioning him to no end. Kankuro shook his head as his frown deepened at the thought of his brother. He had more important things to worry about than his brother's mental state…his sister was _missing_ for God's sake, and he was thinking of Gaara's precious _feelings_. He had better hope and pray Temari comes back safe and untouched or Kankuro wouldn't be held responsible for what he'd do to his sibling.

Hiashi, Hanabi and Hinata rode in the back seat of the limousine, silent. Neither of them uttered a word, or looked at one another. Hiashi was staring at the back of the driver's head, deadpanned. Hanabi was staring blankly outside, watching the trees whip past them at their speed. Hinata was close to tears, staring at her shaking hand placed on her lap. She's blink rapidly to dull the stinging of her teary eyes. He wouldn't let her tears fall, not now, in front of her father and sister, no less. She needed to be strong, Neji would be found soon. The FBI was searching for him, certainly not a force to be reckoned with. She gained a slight bit of confidence and she lifted her head and turned to her father and sister, a single tear falling down her eye.

"He will be safe." She reassured boldly, as she turned the opposite way to stare out of the window, past the trees, past the houses, past the sky, to pray.

Hanabi and Hiashi stared at her, back at each other, then to their previous distractions, as the long and winding ride continued.

Kankuro's heart was racing way past the level of normalcy. He was shaking slightly as he slammed on the brakes and all but jumped out of his dark purple Lexus. He'd only been in his brother's home once, and that was when he and Temari had to practically beg him to attend their father's funeral. He rushed up the concrete steps, just noticing a police car in the driveway that he had almost crashed into.

Once to the door, Kankuro rang the doorbell twice and banged 5 rapid times on the bending screen door. Right when he was about to issue his 6th knock, a silver-haired, half masked man in uniform opened the door, looking lazily at the man in front of him.

"Any relation to a Temari Sabaku?" the officer asked, casually.

"Yes, she's my sister." Kankuro declared, loudly, his patience running out. He just wanted to get inside, see his brother, and question him himself.

"Name?" the investigator asked nonchalantly, flipping a page in the orange book he held close to his nose.

"Kankuro Sabaku. Now let me in!" he growled, about to push his way past the man who looked only a decade older than him, when an arm stopped him in his path.

_His reflexes are good. He hardly even looked up from that book._

The man flipped another page in the book, while his arm was still blocking the fiery brunette's entry.

"Hm…Kankuro Sabaku. Age: 23, height: 6'3, hair color: brown, eye color: dark gree-well, you fit the description." The cop said, removing his arm and ushering him inside politely.

"Kakashi Hatake." The policeman extended his hand formally, shaking the brunette's.

"My condolences towards your sister."

"She's not fucking dead, yet." Kankuro snapped, glaring at the silver-haired man suspiciously.

"Let's try and keep it that way." The man said, slightly muffled behind his mask, as he tried to give a small sympathetic smile towards the troubled man. My partner, Anko Mitarashi is in the room, interrogating your brother. You know, to see if he knows any information?"

Kankuro, who had calmed down substantially, nodded in agreement as Kakashi brought him a cup from the kitchen. "Tea?" he asked, closing his only visible eye into a smile.

"No, I don't want any fucking tea!" Kankuro hissed, dangerously. Was this man a simpleton?! His sister…his PREGNANT sister was missing, and this guy was fixing him tea? "I want you and your goddamn team to find my sister! Who the fuck would kidnap Temari, anyway?! It doesn't add up!" the Kankuro spit, angrily, jumping from his seat on the comfortable couch.

Kakashi instantly dropped his smile, and sipped the tea himself. After a few seconds of awkward slurping, Kakashi replied with a strict "I assure you, we have the best squad on this case. We'll return both parties without a single fatality. But if you continue to act brash and lose your cool, you'll own endanger her more."

Kankuro let this seep in as his shoulders drooped, losing their stiffness.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I just hope she's safe." He whispered, head down, bangs covering his eyes. Kakashi nodded understandingly as he set the cup down and stretched on the couch next to Kankuro. Kakashi studied the man, he resembled his brother. If you glanced at him you wouldn't see a single similarity, but they were there: same shaggy hair, same mouth, same ears. It was just Kankuro was tanner, built more, and had more distinguished features. But Kakashi could tell they were blood.

Suddenly, a purple haired woman exited the back room, walking with he hands on her hips. She was wearing the same army green uniform as Kakshi, only hers were accessorized with fishnets, shorts and an open jacket showing her cleavage.

"He didn't know anything! Not a thing!" She spat angrily at the tired looking man, who had uncrossed his arms to stare lazily at the woman.

"Nothing at all?" the man asked quizzically.

"Not. A. Single. Thing. I've been in there for 2 hours, and he doesn't know jack! He's having a bit of a meltdown in there though; you should check him out Kakashi. And who in the hell are you?!" the woman demanded, turning her irritation and anger upon the other Sabaku brother.

Kankuro stared, shocked for a millisecond, before his anger reared its head as he screamed "Kankuro Sabaku!"

"Aaaah so _you're_ the other Sabaku sibling. Kinda convenient, your sister showing up to see her little brother and vanishing without a trace while you're miles and miles away." She said, smirking dangerously, cold golden eyes staring into his soul. Kankuro got a chill down his spine, he didn't like what she was insinuating, not one bit.

"Wh-What are you saying?" he raged, surprised someone actually got him to stutter. Kakashi, not wanting to stay to see the end of this argument, got up without a word to tend to the youngest sibling's medical needs.

"I'm saying…" she began, taking out her gun and pointing it at Kankuro's head from 5 feet away, "I wonder if you got jealous. Jealous that your _dear_ sister was spending _so _much of her time and energy on your distant brother. So jealous, in fact…it might have led you…to do something…_illegal_…BANG!" she screamed, as she jerked the gun forward, causing Kankuro to step back and shield his head.

The woman's smirk grew as she snorted out a chuckle and stared hard at the man, noticing his shock change to pure rage in a matter of seconds.

"What the fuck is the matter with you?! I would never do that to Temari, that's not funny, you're **SICK**!"

"Yea yea, don't worry tiger I do that to everyone I'm interrogating." She said, no regret in her voice. Anko began to spin the gun around her fingers by the trigger, making Kankuro watch it nervously.

"So…" she stated, placing the gun back into its chamber with a simple flick of her wrist, "Let's get to the _real_ questioning, shall we?"

Kakshi shuffled into the dim lit room, eyes widening slightly at the scene before him. Gaara was seated in the corner of the room, bent over, and breathing into a brown paper bag.

_She could've gone easy on the kid…_

Kakashi sighed audibly and walked over to the boy, careful not to upset him even more. He wasn't one to give sentimental words or show comfort, but this was a different situation; he supposed this was a good time for practice.

"Hey…" he started, kneeling on one knee beside the distraught boy. He studied his features, taking them all in. His bangs were sticking to his scarred forehead, from the cold sweat. His body was shaking violently, as if he had touched a power line. His dark rimmed eyes were closed shut as his slightly paler form was breathing harder and faster into the bag.

"You uh…need to calm down…c'mon, you shouldn't get so worked up over Anko." The man seemed to speak to himself, as the only reply he got were the hoarse sounds made by Gaara's raspy breaths. "If it's any consolation, you're no longer a prime suspect. You're brother's just outside the door." With those words, Gaara's eyes shot open, dilated, and shocked.

"In…here." He gasped out, voice sounding strange coming from the bag.

'Well, yes. Anko's talking with him about the situa-"

Before Kakashi could finish his sentence there was 3 loud knocks coming from the outside of the house.

"What the…we aren't expecting anyone else." He seemed to talk to himself, rising from his knelt position and walking towards the living room.

"**Gaara!!** I know you're in there c'mon out you **LIAR!**" yelled the boisterous blonde as his royal blue eyes held a tinge of insanity and rage. "You had me down at Akimichi's for an **HOUR** waiting for your panda ass!" he screamed, punching the screen door angrily.

"What the fuck?" Anko and Kankuro seemed to say simultaneously, looking at the door with wide eyes. Kakashi returned from the back room, and stared at the couple, "Um…who the hell's the kid?" he said thumbing towards the door.

"No clue, but apparently he knows Gaara." Kankuro said, eye's still glued to the shadow of the boy, about to break the screen door.

"I spose we should let him in before he does more damage to the house." Kakashi sated, stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking towards the door.

* * *

**Poor Gaa-kun, having a panic attack over the mean Anko :( **

**Sorry to end the chapter here, but I have summerschool tomorrow and have to hit the sack :( I'll update tomorrow if I get no homework. Thanks for reading!**


	9. For Stevie Wonder's Eyes Only

Neji opened his eyes and scanned the room frantically. He tried to move but almost tipped over; he was bound to a wooden chair, had duct tape over his mouth and ropes binding his hands and feet together. He tried as best he could to keep the scream from escaping his mouth.

_Where am I?_

He scanned the room, trying to take in his surroundings. He was in a cold badly lit room, possible a garage. There were crates and boxes scattered everywhere, and a single lightbulb hung from the middle of the ceiling, flickering every few seconds. And that's when he noticed he was all alone.

_Temari!_

Where was she? The people that captured him…they couldn't have killed-no. No, there would be no point in that. But she was pregnant, what about the baby? He had to stay level headed, he couldn't get beside himself.

He was a Hyuuga. He was either going to get found by police or these goons would let him free in exchange for some cash from Hiashi. It was nothing to get worried about, he'd be safe soon.

He heard a group of voices coming from a door behind him. Neji tried to turn his neck around as best he could, but couldn't see anything. He couldn't keep the uncertainty and worry from his mind. Then, the door opened…

Kakashi sifted outside of the door, careful to close it swiftly behind him. "Any relation to Temari Sabaku?" he asked, rehearsed, already knowing the answer.

"No, I'm here to see Gaara, move!" the boy screamed, trying to walk past Kakashi, only to have an arm block him from the door.

_Why is everyone trying that today?_

"Let me in I said!" the blonde screamed, anger flashing in his dangerous eyes. Kakashi could've sworn he'd seen a streak of red flash through them.

"Unless you're of any relation to the Sabaku family you're not getting in."

"And why the hell is that?!"

"There's been a family emergency and unless you hold some kind of valuable information" Kakashi began, poiting his finger towards the street, "Step."

Naruto looked offended, his mouth was half open and his eyes were wide with disbelief. Had this stranger just told him to _step_? After he was stood up on an important date this man told him to _step?_

Before Naruto reacted in his usual way of screaming at the top of his lungs, his brain happened to catch up with his mouth.

"_There's been a family emergency…"_

"A…family emergency?" the boy asked concerned, all anger disappearing from his features.

"Yes. Know anything about a Temari Sabaku or a Neji Hyuuga?"

Naruto gasped, covering his mouth in an over-excited fashion, which made Kakashi's right eye twitch. "N-Neji?! Soemthing happened to Neji?! Wh-What-"

"Uno momento." Kakashi replied, casually, sticking his index finger up in the air. He twirled around nonchalantly and closed the screen door behind him, making sure to lock it in case the boy had another fit of rage.

"Anko, we've got a kid here-I'm sorry, your name is?" he asked, swirling back around to face the outcast blonde.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Right." He remembered, twirling around again. "Naruto Uzumaki says he knows Neji Hyuuga. Take him down to the station?"

"Yea, the Hyuugas should be there by down, being interrogated by the Chief." She replied, looking over her shoulder at the silver haired man. She was currently sitting down, a few inches away from an uncomfortable looking Kankuro.

"How come they get questioned by the Chief and we get you?" Kankuro spat out, annoyed. His response was a cold glare from Anko, which made his breath catch in his throat and turn him pale. "Anyway…" she began, snapping her neck back to Kakashi, "You take the kid down, I'm not quite done questioning 'Kanker-Sore' over here." She grinned.

"I told you ya crazy bitch, that's not my-" he was stopped mid-sentence when he felt cold steel pressing hard against his forehead.

"Mind repeating that statement." The woman growled, clicking the gun ready to fire.

"Weeeeeell, be back later." Kakashi dismissed himself, leaving behind a paralyzed Kankuro and a pissed off Anko.

Hinata walked into the cold and loud police station. People were buzzing around, working expeditiously, leaving her head feeling even dizzier than before. Before she could take in half of her surroundings, a woman wearing a dark purple jacket with fishnets speed-walked towards them and shook hands with her father.

"Hiashi Hyuuga? Hello, please follow me. The chief has been expecting you." She greeted, formally, smiling slightly once making eye contact with Hinata and Hanabi. Hinata returned with a small smile of her own, while Hanabi scoffed and looked the other way, arms crossed, glaring at nothing in particular.

The group traveled quickly down the white and sterile hallways. Hinata noticed that her father seemed to move quicker, almost matching the pace set by the woman.

_Could he…actually care about Neji's safety?_

The woman knocked softly on the large door, which had a tag reading 'Do not Disturb' on the crystal knob.

A moan was heard inside, as the woman took it as her cue to slowly open the door. Once her head was safely inside, she whispered a few words, asking permission to enter. Hinata and Hanabi glanced at each other, both confused by the woman's strange behavior. Hiashi's face stayed deadpanned as he stared forward, waiting for some kind of reply from the Chief.

The woman nodded from inside, and opened the door wider, so as everyone could come in. Hinata gasped at the office, it was much larger than she'd imagined. There was a burgundy colored leather sofa near the corner, right next to a beautiful Aloe plant. One large window lit the entire room as there was only a small reading lamp on the giant oak desk. A woman with light blonde hair in two hanging ponytails sat there, fingers laced together professionally on her desk. She had beautiful auburn eyes and…and…

_My god are those her BREASTS?!_

Hianta subconsciously blushed and darted her eyes away to look at anything other than those knockers. The woman had good genes, she'd give her that.

"That'll be all, Shizune." She nodded, as the woman smiled and quickly left the room.

Hanabi gasped randomly as she saw a blur of pink scurry across the room. The busty woman smiled and replied "Don't worry, that's just TonTon, he's harmless." And as quickly as the smile had appeared, it vanished when making eye contact with her father. The Chief stood up walked over to Hiashi, shaking his hand politely.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hyuuga."

"Likewise, Chief Tsunade."

Hinata, even being a few feet away, could smell the hard liquor on the woman's breath. She scrunched her nose and tried to hold back a gag that was forming in her throat.

"Well, we know why people would want to kidnap the boy." The woman explained, sauntering back to her desk, "All we need to do is find them. We received an email from an anonymous source this morning. Supposedly, they'll call us in an hour with strict details about what they want if you desire your nephew back safe and sound."

"And the girl?" Hinata asked, randomly. All eyes turned to her, as if magnetically. She had heard a pregnant woman had been kidnapped as well. She was worried sick over her cousin, but she wanted to ensure the safety of the other victim, too. It wasn't like Hinata to speak out so rudely, but it was as if her mouth reacted faster than her brain.

"Yes…Temari Sabaku should be fine if we get Neji out of there."

"We can't simply pay them off?" Hiashi asked, unmoved by Tsunade or Hinata's words.

"No. Pay them now and then they'll soon kidnap your daughters or other family members. They're like tics. Stop them now and they won't be on the streets for it to happen again." She answered angrily, disgusted by the fact that the man would just offer to give in.

"Hm…" was the only reply given from Hiashi, as he stared past the woman and out the window.

"Though…" she began again, a small smirk appearing on her face, "We _could_ always tell them you intend to pay. I mean, with kidnapping Neji Hyuuga they don't sound like the smartest criminal. Why would they go for the one at the bottom of the list?"

Hinata gasped, audibly as, again, all eyes landed on her. But this time she didn't care; this woman was out of line.

"How d-dare you speak of Neji that way? He's of the same importance of m-me or Hanabi or my father! We're all family!" she shrieked, tears in her soft pearly eyes.

The woman snorted a laugh as she poured herself some Vodka in the small glass on her desk. "I admire your heart, child, I really do. I personally think no less of him, but on _society's_ level, he's not equal to you. It's just the way it works…whoever has the most money has the most power. The bastards could've gone after you, but I suppose since he was alone and unprotected he was seen as an easier target." She cleared up, tilting her head back, downing the drink, and slamming the glass hard against the desk, making Hinata flinch. "Either way, he will return back safely, I can guarantee you that." She said confidently, pouring herself another drink, "I can guarantee you _all_ that."

"I've told you a thousand times already!" Kankuro screamed, grabbing his hair in frustration, "I have absolutely **NO** information whatsoever about who took my sister or why they would take my sister!" he declared, standing up from the chair and walking into the kitchen to prepare a well needed drink.

"Not so fast, I aint done with you yet!" the purple haired woman commented, pointing her gun across the room at the brunette. Kankuro sighed and shook his head. After getting a gun pointed at you for an hour, it loses the effect of being dangerous. Especially when rational thinking took over and he remembered that there _were _laws against randomly shooting people.

"I can't believe Gaara doesn't have one drink in this place." The man talked to himself, completely ignoring the woman.

"Speaking of your brother" she began, slamming her back against the cabinet which made a surprised Kankuro bang his head atop the open refrigerator, "I didn't get much out of him during the questioning, so you have to fill in the blanks for him." She then took out her prized gun and began polishing it with her jacket.

"Maybe it was because you pointed a gun at him?" he returned, sarcastically. The gun made Kankuro scared; he only shuddered to think what Gaara's reaction was.

"That's just my style, I don't mock your's." she replied, sounding mockingly offended. Anko stopped and thought about her actions. What was she doing acting friendly towards a prime suspect? For all she knew this guy could've paid someone off to kill his own sister, or had his brother do it for him. That was it; no more mind games from this creep, things were going to get serious real fast.

"Hands up!" she screamed, pointing the gun at the middle child, who only returned the action with a confused expression.

"What's wrong? I found some booze, it was in the ba-"

"Get your goddamn hands up **NOW!**" the enraged woman screamed, eyes glaring at the brunette, who instantly dropped the cold beer and stuck both hands in the hair defensively.

"What's wrong, what I do?"

"I'm onto your sick games you fucker, and you're gonna get interrogated in a way you've NEVER experienced!" she hissed, taking out her handcuffs, and in a swift movement, making the Sabaku brother defenseless.

"Wh-what the hell?! You were fine a minute ag-"

That was all Kankuro could get out before his mouth was met with the icy steel of the handgun, making him stumble onto the tile floor.

"Wha da fuh?!" he yelled, mouth already beginning to swell.

"You speak ONLY when being spoken to." She warned, kneeling next to the bleeding form of Kankuro as a sadistic smile spread across her face.

"You're playin' by my rules now, bitch."

* * *

**Is Gaara alright? Will Neji be safe? Where's Temari? Did Naruto make it to the police station? Will Kanky be safe from Anko's wrath? So. Many. QUESTIONS! –deepbreath- well, I'll update tomorrow, hopefully, and answer all of these questions, soon :) thanks for reading, and please review. If you do I'll give you a cookie lol Oh and for the record…summerschool is lame :(**


	10. Mayday

Tsunade sat quietly at her large oak desk, pouring herself another glass of numbing liquid that she casually offered to Hiashi. The prestigious Hyuuga nodded and accepted the glass from the Chief, slowly sipping it down as the woman gulped hers in 2 seconds flat.

Hinata sat next to her sister, staring intently at the telephone, waiting for that call from her cousin's captors. An hour had passed since coming here, they should've called by now. Her eyes glossed over from having not blinked. She continued to stare at the phone…and stare…and stare. The stinging in he eyes warned her of the strain, and Hinata blinked rapidly, tears enveloping her lavender irises.

_Neji…I pray you're safe._

Hinata touched her sterling silver necklace given to her by her mother. She let her finger trace the small bird with the diamond eye, thinking back on the day her cousin had left for school.

_Hinata stared as Neji packed hurriedly with a small smile over his pale face. She could tell by his mannerisms: that small smile, that spark in his eyes, his loosely tied hair, and his speedy packing; he was ready to get far away from here. _

"_Neji." Hinata whispered, loud enough to grab the attention of the brunette, yet quiet enough as not to wake the other members of the house._

_Neji spun around, unaware he was being watched from his door frame. He remembered Hinata had always been good at being quiet and watching others. _

"_Hinata. Can't sleep?"_

"_I s-see you can't either." She replied, folding her arms across her chest and smiling at her cousin's early packing. He was leaving tomorrow morning, but he was so eager he just couldn't wait to finish up with his suitcase. _

_Neji chuckled and sat on his suitcase, attempting to zip up the over-stuffed bag. He grunted and a strand of his dark brown hair fell over his face, aggravating him even more. After a few moments, his strength won over, and the suitcase was zipped up to its maximum capacity. _

"_Oh Neji, you could've used one of father's other suitcases!" Hinata quietly scolded, touching the suitcase that looked about to pop._

"_No, the last thing I want to do is ask him for anything else." Neji returned, walking to his window and fiddling with the blinds, hiding his face. _

"_I'll finally be free from this place." He hissed, as if to himself. Hinata assumed he had forgotten she was here, it was like his whole demeanor had changed. She tugged on her light blue silk gown and tiptoed over to Neji, whom was still twirling with the string and staring out of the window. She touched his shoulder, causing him to turn around slowly, and whispered "You'll soon be as free as this bird, my cousin." she soothed, touching her extravagant necklace, eyes never leaving those of her cousin's. _

"_Thank you…Hinata. He breathed out, lowering his eyes from his cousin's to view the beautiful silver bird hanging from her neck. He only wished to feel a fraction of that freedom…for once._

Now she could do nothing but wait. Wait for the heartless bastards that stole her cousin from safety to call to demand their price.

_What evil people these monsters must be._

"Ha! King me!" Tobi declared, kicking his legs excitedly from laying on his stomach on the cold floor.

"I must admit, Tobi, you can play the shit out of some checkers. Un."

"Yea, I'm a pro, DeiDei. When's Sasori coming? Shouldn't we be calling the Hyuugas relatives now? And it's your move!" Deidara, slammed his fist on the ground, making Tobi shut his mouth immediately.

"Sasori will be here soon, we call the Hyuugas when he gets here and I'm THINKING!" the blonde bellowed, causing a tied up Neji to wince. He had been here for a while, and knew the men's personalities very well.

The blonde, Deidara, seemed like a very calm and suave person. Only until he lost patience, which seemed to happen frequently, is when he'd 'blow up' so to speak. He was obviously the brains behind the operation, seeing as how the masked man, Tobi, was only good for God know's what.

_Who is this Sasori?_

"Could I possibly get some water?" Neji spat out angrily. He knew they wouldn't hurt him until they made the ransom, or at least until this 'Sasori' showed up. He would ride this train for as long as he could.

"Pfft-please! And who are you to make demands?" the blonde asked, looking up from his red pieces to eye Neji suspiciously.

"I'm not _demanding_ anything. It was simply a request. I think I deserve some water, what with being so passive about you kidnapping my friend and I." Neji hissed, resisting the urge to glare with all of his might.

"Aaaaah right, we still have the woman!" Tobi snapped his fingers, forgetting all about the other captive. "She's still knocked out, DeiDei."

"Go check on her, Tobi, see if she hasn't woken up yet."

"Aaaaaaw, why do I have to go? I was winning!" Tobi pouted from under his mask. Deidara looked up, a flash of rage in his blue eyes. Without another word, Tobi shuffled to his feet and being power walking across the room, out of sight.

Deidara waited until Tobi was out of sight, then moved 5 of his pieces on the checkerboard and chuckled loudly.

"That's cheating you know."

Deidara snorted and replied with a smirk, "I'm sure the idiot won't notice."

"You might think of him as an idiot, but what does that make you? You couldn't win fairly against an idiot, after all."

Deidara looked into the eyes of the man who dared insult him. This…this _kid_ just referred to him as an idiot?!

Deidara retrieved a lighter from his long jacket, flicked it on, and held it dangerously close the Neji's face.

"Did you just call me stupid?! **HM?!" **he screamed, wildly bringing the flame closer and closer to Neji's face, until he could feel the heat on his cheek.

"I'll make you regret your words, Hyuuga…"

Kankuro held the bag of frozen peas over his aching blood crusted head. An hour. An hour of Anko's insane and demented form of questioning. Sixty minutes of her screaming, demanding voice. Sixty minutes of the pain of the gun against this mouth, nose, and head. Sixty minutes of hell.

Anko had decided that the man indeed, knew nothing. She sighed and declared "Ok, you're good.", and dropped her gun and uncuffed the man as if the abuse before hadn't even taken palce.

She plopped on the couch next to the battered and bruised sibling, and for the first time in his life, Kankuro contemplated punching a woman in the ovaries.

"Well, I apologize for the hassle, but I had to make sure you were good." She replied, smiling with a hint of mischief in her eyes. Kankuro glared, he could see the sarcasm in her eyes. Growing up, when Temari would apologize to him for breaking his favorite toy or eating the last ice cream bar, she'd have that same flash of sarcasm in those eyes.

"You…bitch." Kankuro winced out, feeling the pain in his mouth.

"You might wanna get your mouth checked out, 'Kanker-Sore'" she teased, standing up and cracking her knuckles.

"Why didn't you interrogate Gaara like you did me?" he asked, ignoring the pain in his gums.

"After a while I figured if he couldn't take simple questions he wouldn't be capable of committing a serious crime like this. General assumption."

"So you just assumed with HIM but beat the shit out of ME?!" he screamed, dropping the freezing bag on his lap.

"Hey…" Anko replied calmly, totally ignoring the enraged brunette's accusation. "He did admit to me that you and him haven't kept in contact very well." She said, picking up her gun and cleaning the dried blood from it with her jacket end.

"Yea…and?"

"And?" she exclaimed, fiery eyes meeting shocked emerald ones. "Take it from someone who never had much of a family" she started, voice showing signs of anger and sadness, "Don't just throw away your blood…I'm going back to the station. We'll call you if the captures call us. So stand by the phone." She walked away, stopping her glaring eye contact with the man. And with that, she was gone.

"Gaara…" Kankuro sighed out, turning his head to face the closed bedroom door of his brother.

Temari opened her eyes and the first thing she noticed was…

_It's so cold._

She felt her arms; she couldn't move them though. She looked down, she was completely naked. She was tied to the ceiling by chains, wrapped around her wrists.

_Where am I?!_

"Whe-"

"Aah you're awake!" a voice chimed from under her.

She turned her head to meet a short man in an orange mask with only one peephole.

"What…the-Where the fuck?! Where?! HELP!" she screamed, tears coming to her eyes from shock before her mind could even process what was happening.

"Now now, miss, no need to get-oof!" Tobi was met to a strong kick to his face, followed by one to his stomach, as Temari screamed and flailed with all of her might.

"Let me go! Let me go! **LET ME GO!!**" she shrieked, tears dripping down her cheeks, hoping, praying this was all a dream.

Temari felt something cold press against her stomach as she opened her teal eyes to see a man whom resembled Gaara, standing next to her, his arm on her stomach. He was holding a needle filled with clear liquid.

"You make one more movement and you and your child die a slow and painful death." He warned flatly, his voice showing no emotion or empathy for her situation.

"Wha-I…Oh my god." Was all Temari could gasp out, as she felt she would be sick.

She felt the cold tip of the needle press against her tender stomach even harder, almost puncturing the skin. She panicked.

"No! Please!"

* * *

**I'll update maybe tomorrow. Sorry for the cliffy, please review :)**


	11. Everyday Is Exactly The Same

She felt the cold tip of the needle press against her tender stomach even harder, almost puncturing the skin

_She felt the cold tip of the needle press against her tender stomach even harder, almost puncturing the skin. She panicked._

"_No! Please!"_

The needle pricked Temari slightly, causing a trickle of blood to fall down her enlarged stomach.

"I suggest you cooperate." The needle wielding man demanded, retracting it enough so the liquid wouldn't go in.

Temari fought the tears in her eyes and the nausea in her stomach. What was happening? This wasn't a dream; her dreams weren't this terrifying. No, this was real.

"Tobi." The man beaconed, never ceasing the eye contact he held with the shaking mother, "Who is this woman?"

"Temari Sabaku, The Hyuuga's gal-pal. She was a witness and had to be brought." Tobi coughed out, still holding his side from where Temari had landed some kicks.

"Hm." was the only audible response heard from the man, as he retracted his poison filled device. Though the syringe was out of sight, Temari still felt little comfort as she stared into the odd colored brown eyes of her captor.

"S-So…what? O-Once the ransom is paid, I'll be let go!" she tried her best to declare in her usual confident tone, though she was failing miserably.

To Temari's surprise Sasori began to smirk, then chuckle lightly, then full out laugh. He laughed hysterically, head thrown back, shoulders jumping. Tobi began laughing along-side his leader, until Sasori stopped abruptly, which caused Tobi to do the same, scared of the consequences of being the last to make a noise.

"And what if they don't want to pay extra for a pregnant _bitch?" _he hissed the 'bitch' out evilly and made sure to emphasize every syllable, making Temari shudder.

"I think it's time to call those pigs, now, Tobi." Sasori smirked, still staring up at a trembling Temari. And with that, Toi replied with a "Yes!" and ran off to find Deidara.

"It'll be such a shame if you have to die." The man said, rubbing the belly of his captive. The feeling of her stomach being rubbed by cold calloused hands caused Temari's anxiety to sky-rocket. Sasori began rubbing the protruding stomach in small circles, just as Shikamaru used to do.

"Such a beautiful woman. But…money is money." Sasori commented, almost sounding hurt. He then removed his hand quickly, as if he'd been burnt. "Money is our top priority." He rehearsed, as if to himself then walked out of the room hurriedly.

"What the…oh my god!" Temari gasped, looking around the room hysterically.

_There's got to be a way out of here._

_They have to pay for my part of the ransom, they HAVE to._

Suddenly, a sharp pain hit Temari in her abdomen. As if someone had shocked her, or struck her uterus with a barbed wire.

"Eeeh…" she grunted, grabbing a handful of the chains that were suspending her.

_Something's wrong…_

**

* * *

**

I'm so sorry this is the shortest chapter I've ever done. I'm also sorry about the fact that I haven't updated in a while. I got distracted with summerschool, and now my ACTUAL school and everything. I thought I'd quit this story, but I figured I couldn't do that, what with having other story's on hiatus/unfinished. Anyway, please review if you're still reading. I promise I'll update tomorrow and sorry for the cliffy! :)


End file.
